CDAO Canada
Presentations
Day 1: General Session
Keynote Presentation: What makes enterprise data ready for AI agents
As AI agents take on more responsibility in your enterprise, many teams confront a hard truth: AI is only as reliable as the data behind it. In large organizations, data is typically distributed, inconsistently governed, and difficult to interpret, making it risky for AI agents to operate with confidence.
This session looks at what it truly means to make your data ready for AI agents, beyond simple access or scale. We’ll explore how context, lineage, and governance help agents discover, understand, and safely use enterprise data. Join our industry experts as they outline a practical approach to building data foundations your AI agents can rely on for trustworthy, auditable outcomes.
Dima Spivak
Vice President of Product Management, IBM
Keynote Presentation: Canada’s AI & Data Leadership for a Trusted Digital Future
- Insights into how Canada is shaping its AI and data strategy to drive innovation and competitiveness.
- How to ensure AI and data initiatives are ethical, transparent, and secure.
- How can leadership in data and AI create measurable benefits for businesses and society.
Celio Oliveria
Chief Data Officer, GOVERNMENT OF CANADA
Keynote Presentation: The AI Governance Imperative: Balancing Innovation, Compliance, and Business Value
- Navigating the GenAI Risk/Reward Curve: How executives are moving from experimentation to operationalizing GenAI, and the new governance models required to do it securely.
- Breaking the Data Impasse: Practical strategies for aligning data governance and data science teams to accelerate AI projects without compromising security.
- Quantifying the Governance Advantage: How to move beyond compliance as a cost center and demonstrate the measurable impact of a robust governance framework on the speed and success of AI initiative
Terry Doresy
Senior Data & AI Evangelist, DENODO
Track A: Strategy, Governance & Leadership
Keynote Presentation: The Data Trifecta - Governance, Delivery, and Innovation at Meridian
- Insights into how Governance is embedded in data processes and solution design
- Understanding how to build trusted, fit-for-purpose data products and services on scalable and resilient architecture
- Exploring pathways to AI implementation
Sofia Gomez de Silva
Director Data Governance & Culture, MERIDIAN CREDIT UNION
Keynote Presentation: Measuring Data Value and ROI for the C-Suite
- Understanding how executives can quantify the impact of data and analytics on business performance
- Exploring practical frameworks to measure ROI from data initiatives
- What are the best practices for translating data outcomes into executive-level decision-making
- Exploring pathways to AI implementation
Heather Harris
Chief Data & Analytics Officer, ALTERYX
Keynote Presentation: Building High-Performing Data Teams: Culture, Trust, and Scalable Execution
- How to build and sustain a high-performing data team through strong culture, clear roles, and shared purpose
- What it takes to learn trust and alignment from executives and the board to accelerate data initiatives
- Choosing the right technology stack and operating model to drive team efficiency, engagement, and scalable delivery
Celia Bru
Director Data & Analytics, KOHO
Track B: AI, Analytics & Architecture
Arundati Dandapani
Founder & CEO, GENERATION1.CA
Keynote Presentation: From Research to Real-World: Operationalizing ML & AI in Regulated Healthcare Environments
- What organizations must establish to manage model quality, monitor drift, and mitigate risk when AI directly impacts patient outcomes or care operations.
- How synthetic data can accelerate development and safely support productionisation without compromising privacy or regulatory compliance.
Fannie Cai
Director of Machine Learning and AI Engineering, LIFELABS MEDICAL LABORATORY SERVICES
Keynote Presentation: What actually changes: Why AI breaks traditional data and platform assumptions
- Why AI hallucinates when it can't verify context
- How to design data and platform foundations for reliable, scalable AI
Rugveda Gawade
Director of Data and AI Strategy, INTERAC.CORP
Keynote Presentation: From Learning to Doing: How Canadian Enterprises Move Beyond AI Infancy and Into Scalable Action
- How to build a practical, prioritized action plan that aligns business value, governance, and cross-functional execution.
Michael Page
Director, AI Commercialization, UNITY HEALTH TORONTO
Day 2: General Session
Keynote Presentation: Leading Global Data & Technology Transformation: Teams, Tools, and the AI Roadmap
- Exploring technology selection and governance understanding how to choose the right tools, manage a cohesive technology stack, and implement governance frameworks for consistency, security, and scalability
- Insights into advancing an enterprise AI roadmap learning how to integrate AI into existing data strategies, accelerate innovation, and deliver measurable business value
Stefany Singh
Global Director, Digital & Data Strategy, RWDI
Keynote Presentation: Human-AI Co-Adaptation: A Core Driver of Sustained AI Adoption
- How AI’s speed is breaking traditional change management
- What successful human-AI co-adaptation entails, with a real-world case study
- How to build trust, uptake, and performance in tandem
- How to make AI scale for sustained impact
Linda Hermer
Chief Executive Officer, VANTAGE PRECISION HEALTH
Ronen Schwartz
CEO, K2VIEW
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Day 2: Track A – Enterprise Innovation & Transformation
Keynote Presentation: Modernizing IT and Engineering to Drive Innovation in Banking and Payments
- Exploring real-time payments (RTR) implementation and the challenges of being a first mover in Canada’s payment infrastructure
- Insights into building scalable, secure, and high-performing financial systems across multi-cloud and on-premise environments, enabling billions of transactions with zero downtime
Paul Twigg
Chief Technology Officer, DIGITAL COMMERCE BANK
Keynote Presentation: Before AI: Why Data Quality Matters for Enterprises
- What accuracy, shared definitions, and context mean across the enterprise
- Setting organizations up to innovate with confidence and speed
Supriya Kumari
Director of Data Strategy, SASKATCHEWAN GOVERNMENT INSURANCE
Day 2: Track B – AI, Data & Technology for Future Readiness
Keynote Presentation: AI Agents at Scale and Governance Best Practices
- What organizations need to establish to govern AI agents responsibly, including guardrails, monitoring, oversight, and alignment with existing risk frameworks
- How to ensure safety, reliability, and human accountability as AI agents take on greater autonomy across business processes
Daneyal Anis
Assistant Vice President, Data Science, COE, Head of AI, SUN LIFE
Keynote Presentation: AI Agents at Scale and Governance Best Practices
- What organizations need to establish to govern AI agents responsibly, including guardrails, monitoring, oversight, and alignment with existing risk frameworks
- How to ensure safety, reliability, and human accountability as AI agents take on greater autonomy across business processes
Daneyal Anis
Assistant Vice President, Data Science, COE, Head of AI, SUN LIFE
Keynote Presentation: AI-Powered Decision Support Systems: Driving Smarter Business in the Age of AI
- How to measure impact: We’ll cover ways to track results and ROI so organizations can recognize the real value of their AI initiatives.
- How to create an AI-ready culture: They’ll learn how to blend human judgment with AI, build capable teams, and establish systems and processes that make AI adoption practical, ethical, and sustainable.
Dr. Bishoy Sawiris
Chief Data Officer, GB CORP
Day 2: General Session
Keynote Presentation: Where to Begin: A Practical Framework for Starting Your Enterprise AI Journey
- What organizations need to define and prioritize AI use cases that align with real business value.
- How to build a practical framework to identify, evaluate, and launch early AI initiatives with confidence.
Christina Hoy
Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer, LUMENUS COMMUNITY SERVICES
Keynote Presentation: Building a Data-Driven Platform: A Case Study in Meeting Real Business Needs
- Building your data platform to fit your business vs. trying to fit your business to your data platform
- How to design and build a platform that solves real business problems by addressing critical gaps and applying clear architectural principles.
- Exploring practical tools and products that enable day-to-day decision-making through effective analytics, dashboards, and data products.
- Insights into data sharing, governance, and trust to ensure secure, compliant, and accessible data across teams and partners.
Milind Joshi
Chief Technology Officer, FOXQUILT
Keynote Presentation: EXPERT ASK ME ANYTHING: The Next Frontier: AI, Edge, and Quantum in the Enterprise
- Understanding the practical implications of integrating these technologies into existing systems
- How to identify opportunities and overcome challenges when adopting next-generation platforms
Rishi Midha
Head of AI Research, ELLISDON